Forum Poll

[MartinB]

I'd be interested to see peoples thoughts.

[comeonrovers]

Why would you want to drive people away ?

[MachoMadness]

Cutting the userbase significantly is probably not something the VSC would appreciate.

[MartinB]

I wouldn't want to drive Rovers fans away, just thought it may increase #of people joining the VSC maybe change the feel of the forum slightly too.

It is just something I kind of wondered as it is a topic that often comes up on this forum.

Just edited option 3 as realised I'd done that bit wrong!

[podrover73]

It might get rid of some of the Knobheads

[the vicar]

it would make it discriminitve and short sighted

[comeonrovers]

just to add to my previous post.  I have been a member for over a year.  I live in cornwall and find this forum useful for getting information about how rovers are getting on instead of reading terrible match reports from bbc sky etc.

If the vsc decide to ban posting for a non vsc members it will render this forum useless and alienate a lot of supporters.  it will be like a gentlemens club

[Mr1Croft]

Firstly there is a VSC Members only area if members want to discuss anything amongst themselves.


I reject any notion of this forum being for members only, it goes against what the VSC stands for and what we do. As an organisation we operate "by the fans, for the fans". We don't just take VSC member issues to the club but a vast array of issues from the entire support base.


This forum (which is not the VSC may I add) is a good tool to give all supporters a voice so we can take your opinions to the club and the club can feed fans information. It is now and should be in the futrue free to all to use, we would in an ideal world like all forum users to be members of the VSC but we reach that goal by promoting what we do and encouraging people to join. Not by giving them an Ultimatum of sign up or p*ss off.

[coppsisgod]

Isn't this what happened to YAURS? They made people pay to join or something? That was even more active then this site is IMO and it died because of that. (My memory of exactly happened is a bit hazy though so I might be wrong. Would be happy to be corrected).

[MartinB]

Come on Rovers, just to make it clear I'm not part of the Moderators or really sure if I'm a VSC member anymore (mainly due to a mix up on paypal I think). I like you am an exile, I guess with the number of guests viewing this forum and the debate that is ongoing in the rumors section I decided to conduct a poll myself just to see the overall views of people.  I find this forum excellent and the moderators do a great job IMO. I just thought it may see an increase in membership, I kind of liked the idea of limited number of posts for non VSC members, thus enabling other teams fans who contribute often before games and also a great way to entice people that are contributing regularly to join the VSC.

[dknward2]

No and I'm a vsc member we just need to stop the duplication of threads on the same subject

[NathanDRFC]

I can't see the benefit of this thread to be honest. People will either want to be part of the good work the VSC is doing or not.

If the reasons below, which have been stated many times cannot get people to join, then I am not sure limiting users postings rights will.

THe VSC this season have:
*Reduced membership fees  - less then 4pence per day now
*Provide a forum for all
*Successfully introduced the 'fan engagement' concept to DRFC which became the DRFC 'In Rovers We Trust' campaign to significantly improve the relationship between the club and its core supporters. The VSC attend DRFC head of department meetings, and the VSC members views are put directly to the people that can make things change.
*Negotiated with the club on Season Ticket and match day prices plus encouraged the elimination of match categories. This is again taking place for next season.
*Assisted with the creation of add-ons for Season Ticket holders. One such add-on will see season ticket holders be able to bring up to 5 people for free to a future Rovers home game this season – season ticket holders should see the latest season ticket newsletter for more details.
*The behind the scenes work to ensure the Keepmoat Stadium was retained as a community benefit for the local community but especially DRFC supporters
* We contributed to the 'Rovers Promise' and assisted with updating the clubs charter
*  Renaming of the Lakeside Bar to the Belle Vue Bar
* Donated memorabilia to brighten up the Belle Vue Bar and launched a campaign for fans to be able to donate their memorabilia to display too.
* Raised funds and donated VSC memorabilia to Billy Sharp's LJS Foundation
*  Sponsored children's football activities at the Keepmoat – the sponsorship and support of football festivals pre-match. This scheme returns in the new Year. Last season clubs from the Doncaster Junior League and Sheffield & District Junior League took part.
* Met with SYPTE and DRFC officials to resolve the post-match public transport issues.
*The Trust started the Tomorrow’s Rovers project, investing in the Rovers youth setup. To date, we have sponsored two teams and are always collecting money for that project.
*Received a massive full page - thank you letter from DRFC in the last programme
*Provided the opportunity for ill children and their parents to attend DRFC games for free
*As you will be aware, the Keepmoat is hosting an England U19 international in February, and the VSC is supporting that fixture by making available old England car flags that the Trust was given many moons a go, to children who purchase tickets for the fixture against Denmark.
*The Trust linked up with Bluebell Wood, to enable people who would otherwise not be able to attend fixtures the opportunity to do so.

Without members, this sort of worthwhile community action cannot be achieved, so thank you to all our members, and if you are not a member yet, you can join today by clicking the link at the top

[Glyn_Wigley]

Isn't this what happened to YAURS? They made people pay to join or something? That was even more active then this site is IMO and it died because of that. (My memory of exactly happened is a bit hazy though so I might be wrong. Would be happy to be corrected).

It was partly that but mostly because of Nigel Wroe's increasingly unpredictable behaviour.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

It's a no from me, debate should be embraced and open to all. However, we would always encourage and continue to promote increased participation from all forum members.

[The L J Monk]

I can't see the benefit of this thread to be honest. People will either want to be part of the good work the VSC is doing or not.

I think it's worth asking. Only yesterday Filo posted to say he's "argued vociferously" to keep this board free - who was he arguing with?

[ArmthorpeRover]

Isn't this what happened to YAURS? They made people pay to join or something? That was even more active then this site is IMO and it died because of that. (My memory of exactly happened is a bit hazy though so I might be wrong. Would be happy to be corrected).

I think the style of YAURS also helped with it's popularity until the shit hit the fan, the VSC forum back then was a bit disjointed to use and sometimes hard to follow......I did like the full complement of other teams forum links it had tho.

[RobTheRover]

I can't see the benefit of this thread to be honest. People will either want to be part of the good work the VSC is doing or not.

I think it's worth asking. Only yesterday Filo posted to say he's "argued vociferously" to keep this board free - who was he arguing with?

He has argued with posters who have raised points like this one. There has never been any suggestion from the VSC board that the forum should be closed to members only. As Lee states,  we take supporter issues forward which have also come from non-VSC members so to deny those supporters a voice would be illogical. In fact,  the VSC Members Only sub forum only came about because the membership asked for it.

This forum will always be free to use whether a VSC member or not. What we really would like though is for all Doncaster Rovers supporters to join the VSC to further strengthen the position of the fans.  The club and the VSC together has never been stronger than we are now and real progress on many issues is being made.

[FuzzyDuck]

The VSC this season have:

*Reduced membership fees  - less then 4pence per day now
*Provide a forum for all
*Successfully introduced the 'fan engagement' concept to DRFC which became the DRFC 'In Rovers We Trust' campaign to significantly improve the relationship between the club and its core supporters. The VSC attend DRFC head of department meetings, and the VSC members views are put directly to the people that can make things change.
*Negotiated with the club on Season Ticket and match day prices plus encouraged the elimination of match categories. This is again taking place for next season.
*Assisted with the creation of add-ons for Season Ticket holders. One such add-on will see season ticket holders be able to bring up to 5 people for free to a future Rovers home game this season – season ticket holders should see the latest season ticket newsletter for more details.
*The behind the scenes work to ensure the Keepmoat Stadium was retained as a community benefit for the local community but especially DRFC supporters
* We contributed to the 'Rovers Promise' and assisted with updating the clubs charter
*  Renaming of the Lakeside Bar to the Belle Vue Bar
* Donated memorabilia to brighten up the Belle Vue Bar and launched a campaign for fans to be able to donate their memorabilia to display too.
* Raised funds and donated VSC memorabilia to Billy Sharp's LJS Foundation
*  Sponsored children's football activities at the Keepmoat – the sponsorship and support of football festivals pre-match. This scheme returns in the new Year. Last season clubs from the Doncaster Junior League and Sheffield & District Junior League took part.
* Met with SYPTE and DRFC officials to resolve the post-match public transport issues.
*The Trust started the Tomorrow’s Rovers project, investing in the Rovers youth setup. To date, we have sponsored two teams and are always collecting money for that project.
*Received a massive full page - thank you letter from DRFC in the last programme
*Provided the opportunity for ill children and their parents to attend DRFC games for free
*As you will be aware, the Keepmoat is hosting an England U19 international in February, and the VSC is supporting that fixture by making available old England car flags that the Trust was given many moons a go, to children who purchase tickets for the fixture against Denmark.
*The Trust linked up with Bluebell Wood, to enable people who would otherwise not be able to attend fixtures the opportunity to do so.

In my opinion, if you can post on here while looking at that list and saying "OK - but I'm not bothered about that" then don't join the VSC.  Thing is that would also make you a hypocrite as item no.2 is "Provide a forum for all" and the act of using the forum would point to the fact that you are bothered about it.

The only reason for making the entire VSC forum members only would be to encourage non-members who like me enjoy posting on forums to pay a tiny amount for this privilege.  I don't know if it would have the desired effect but I certianly wouldn't be against giving it a try.

[River Don]

The forum being open and free makes it a better advert for the VSC than anything else could be.

The fact that people are able to keep coming here for news and entertainment keeps the VSC a vital organisation that the fans are aware of.

I would suggest making it exclusive would have a very detrimental effect. Not only on the forum but on VSC membership too.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Exactly, hence why we're all committed to it.  We will have no shame in promoting the VSC though, hence the avatars, signatures, ads etc, it's a useful tool and keeps the trust there for all to see.  I like that we can do that, I also like that all fans can freely post, something a number of us have posted here.

[Katesby]

Firstly there is a VSC Members only area if members want to discuss anything amongst themselves.


I reject any notion of this forum being for members only, it goes against what the VSC stands for and what we do. As an organisation we operate "by the fans, for the fans". We don't just take VSC member issues to the club but a vast array of issues from the entire support base.


This forum (which is not the VSC may I add) is a good tool to give all supporters a voice so we can take your opinions to the club and the club can feed fans information. It is now and should be in the futrue free to all to use, we would in an ideal world like all forum users to be members of the VSC but we reach that goal by promoting what we do and encouraging people to join. Not by giving them an Ultimatum of sign up or p*ss off.

Hold on, just yesterday you posted this;

'I must confess I am warming to the idea of only having it available to posters who are either VSC Members (as they pay for the forum) and anyone with a post count higher than 250.  That gives people two options to get into that area of the site keep posting till they hit 250 or become a member of £12/£1.00 per month.

This is, for what its worth my opinion and not one of the VSC Board or the moderation team'.

[Mr1Croft]

I fail to see your point. Both posts are in different contexts. This thread is about the entire forum while the quotation you use is merely about a section of the website that is currently out of the public viewing. If you read that particular thread some more you will also see that I later go on to admit it would be a bad idea.